Good morning, Virginia Beach!
Today’s story is all about turning pain into purpose — and the incredible ways one local is making a difference for kids and families facing pediatric cancer. Eric Newman, founder of Roc Solid Foundation, knows firsthand what it means to fight this disease. What started with building one backyard playground has grown into thousands of playsets across the country, plus hospital programs that bring comfort to families during some of their hardest days.
It’s a reminder that community really is stronger when we rally together.
In today’s edition:
✨ Meet the mission behind Roc Solid Foundation
✨ See how local businesses are stepping up to help
✨ Find ways you can get involved
Let’s dive in!
—Kim
Thank you to TeamUp for sponsoring this week’s newsletter
Roc Solid Foundation “Plays” it Forward for Families Living with Pediatric Cancer
“Ever since 3 years old, I have been trying to figure out the pain that I went through and to try to extract the purpose from that,” said Eric Newman, a pediatric cancer survivor and founder/chief officer of “play” for Roc Solid Foundation. Through constructing playground sets for families dealing with pediatric cancer, Roc Solid Foundation builds hope and provides a fun and revitalizing way for patients who are kids — to still be kids.
After recovering from his own childhood cancer, Newman later lost two cousins to the disease. As an adult, he tried different careers in lawn care and construction, lived for a while in Costa Rica seeking purpose, and then answered an unrelenting call to use his experience with cancer in a positive way. He returned to Hampton Roads and organized a fundraiser to benefit the hospital who saved his life, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD).
When Newman came back to CHKD to present the fundraiser proceeds check, he witnessed a child running down the hall towing an IV cart held by his also running mother. He was a kid wanting so desperately to still feel like a kid, but he was compelled to stop in front of Newman and ask about him. Surprising himself, Newman told them his story.
“After I finished, the woman said to me, ‘You give me and my husband hope that my son will be sitting in your seat one day,’” said Newman. “I knew then, I’m supposed to take my pain, and it's now going to become my purpose.”
When Newman accepted a small construction job of a backyard playground where the client’s daughter eagerly watched the entire process through the window, the idea arose to build the same kind of happiness for kids fighting pediatric cancer and their families. Roc Solid Foundation was born with a nod in its name to his own childhood experience. Newman’s nickname as a child was E-rock, and when he was fighting cancer, his father gave him a stuffed toy embroidered with the nickname. After being sanitized multiple times by the hospital, the “k” wore off, and many years later, E-roc inspired the name Roc Solid.
Since 2009, Roc Solid Foundation has completed thousands of playground set projects across the country. They have also launched a program in partnership with pediatric hospitals that provides Roc Solid Ready Bags containing many of the essential items for parents to stay overnight at the hospital those first few nights.
“We are focused on that moment in time, and changing the way that families live with cancer,” said Newman.
Roc Solid Foundation depends on support from the community both financially and physically on construction sites. They have named their community The Beam after the swing beam on a playground set which requires multiple people to install. Much of the set must be in place before the swing beam is attached, and the beam’s heavy weight requires multiple hands. Roc Solid Foundation shows its supporters just where and to whom their financial support is going and the smiles their help elicits.
For example, Andrew Daly of Northwestern Mutual Coastal Virginia sponsored a recent playground set construction for a brave two-year-old boy battling cancer. “The purpose of this build was to provide more than a structure — it was to build hope and rally a community together,” said Daly. “Together we learned that incredible things can be accomplished when we unite in compassion and uplift others in need.”
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